Philadelphia Eagles: The pressure is on for Josh Sweat

After flashing some impressive burst in 2019, the 2020 season could make or break Josh Sweat’s career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Philadelphia Eagles‘ defensive line is in a rather unenviable spot going into the 2020 NFL Draft.

On one hand, the Birds’ defensive tackle group is absolutely stacked thanks to the addition of Javon Hargrave, the return of Malik Jackson, and the ever-present force of nature Fletcher Cox – not to mention Hassan Ridgeway – but the team’s defensive ends are a completely different story.

Outside of Brandon Graham, who turned 32 earlier this month, the Eagles don’t have a single defensive end with a proven NFL track record.

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Derek Barnett should enter 2020 as the team’s other starting defensive end – barring a decision to start Jackson at end of course – but he’s largely underwhelmed as a pass rusher when compared to his draft status, and very well may have his fifth-year-option declined before the May 30th deadline if a better option sprouts up.

Fortunately for Barnett, this is a particularly bad draft for defensive end-needy teams.

Sure, Chase Young may be a generational prospect who very well may strike fear into the heart of Carson Wentz for the next decade-plus, but outside of the Ohio State speed rusher, there very well may not be a second pure 4-3 defensive end selected in the first round, period.

So needless to say, if Barnett continues to be an above-average run defender and an average-average pass rusher, and there’s no plug-‘n-play defensive end available in the 2020 NFL Draft, the pressure is on for Josh Sweat to step his game up in this, his third professional season.

A conscientious five-star recruit coming out of Chesapeake, Virginia, Sweat spent three injury-hampered seasons with the Florida State Seminoles, where he largely underperformed his sky-high expectations. Sweat wasn’t a trainwreck, mind you, but after amassing 22 sacks as a high school senior, recording 14.5 sacks in 35 collegiate games simply wasn’t a career for the record books.

And then Sweat ran a 4.55 40 yard dash at the 2018 NFL Draft Combine and was reinserted into the conversation as a potential eventual NFL starter.

And so far, the results have been mixed.

After doing quite literally nothing as a rookie, picking up one pressure and one QB hit on 68 offensive snaps, Sweat’s under-the-radar efforts in 2019 actually showed some promise. Sure, he didn’t set the league on fire as the natural heir to Chris Long as the Eagles’ certified speed rusher off the edge, but the then-22-year-old product finished fourth on the team in sacks with four on only 35 percent of the team’s defensive snaps in addition to 15 pressures, five hurries, and five QB hits.

Sweat looks quick, played with good anticipation, and even showed an ability to get things done with pass-rushing moves; who knows, maybe a number change from 75 to 94 was all it took for Sweat to unlock his NFL potential?

With four sacks in his final six appearances of the season, Sweat should be in line for an even bigger workload in 2020, but here’s the thing, Howie Roseman may think otherwise.

Despite having a ton of needs across the board from wide receiver to cornerback, Roseman traded a fourth-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft to the Cleveland Browns at the 2019 trade deadline for Genard Avery, another super-speedy edge rusher under the age of 25. Now maybe it’s just me, but teams don’t usually trade future picks for a prospect unless they aren’t happy with what they already have on their roster.

Does the addition of Avery mean Sweat isn’t living up to Roseman’s expectations?

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With two years left on his rookie deal, Josh Sweat is only going to have so many chances to make good on his sky-high potential as a speedy rusher coming off the edge in Jim Schwartz‘s scheme. While he probably won’t be released in 2020 barring a truly disastrous training camp, Sweat may never have a better chance to establish himself as a starter in Jim Schwartz‘s pass rush-happy scheme than this season – only time will tell if he can make the most of it.

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